Instagram-obsessed drug mule cries as she is sentenced to eight years for trying to smuggle cocaine on cruise ship

A 24-year-old drug mule from Canada obsessed with Instagram "likes" broke down in tears in an Australian courtroom as she was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday.

Melina Roberge is likely to be deported after she serves time for her part in trying to smuggle $16 million worth of cocaine into Sydney aboard a cruise ship.

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Roberge said in New South Wales state District Court that she relished the opportunity to take selfies "in exotic locations and post them on Instagram" during a $17,000 vacation she could not afford.

"She was seduced by lifestyle and the opportunity to post glamorous Instagram photos from around the world," Judge Kate Traill said. "She wanted to be the envy of others. I doubt she is now."

Roberge was obsessed with Instagram "likes." (melinar @ Instagram)

The judge said Roberge's motivation was a "very sad indictment" on her age group who "seek to attain such a vacuous existence where how many 'likes' they receive are their currency."

Roberge and two other Canadians had pleaded guilty to smuggling 209 pounds of cocaine in suitcases aboard the MS Sea Princess during a seven-week cruise in 2016. The luxury ship traveled from Britain to Ireland, the U.S., Bermuda, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and then Australia.

Roberge, from Quebec, was sentenced to a non-parole period of just less than five years, after which she is likely to be shipped back to Canada.